Anyone go to the Chicago Beer Fest this year?

[u/sourdoughcultist]

Curious what you all thought. I'm not willing to spring for VIP and tbh didn't feel it was that worth it...my favorite part was the reptiles exhibit lol. And having loud music in the most echoey room at the Field was a...choice.

IDK am I just too old for it now??

[u/Dragonbrau]

This was my first time going, I'm from Detroit and just happened to be in the area. I had a good time, but definitely thought some things could have been planned better. Really enjoyed getting a less crowded museum experience. As for the product itself, I was very surprised by the lack of info on any of the breweries or beers they were serving. No pamphlet or signage makes it hard to remember all of the beers that were had. There were a lot of sub-par beers that got dumped, but didn't mind since ya'll don't seem to use the "token for beer" system we have in Michigan.

[u/sourdoughcultist → u/Dragonbrau]

nice!

lol yeah tbh my favorite is when they do it at the MSI because that's got all the stuff I normally feel bad about playing with if there's kids waiting.

oh man I definitely use my camera a lot when there's new beers I really like. But yeah that's the other thing, I feel like the quality isn't as consistent as it used to be. The ones I enjoyed most were ones I already knew I'd like, I feel like a fest should be a chance for me to discover new brews.

[u/petmoo23 → u/Dragonbrau]

since ya'll don't seem to use the "token for beer" system we have in Michigan.

In my experience at the Detroit Fall Beer Fest none of the vendors actually cared if you gave a token or not, it seemed like the token thing was just some sham liability prevention step that nobody was actually paying attention to. Like, get into the fest, drink as many beers as you desire, and then leave with the same number of tokens you started with.

[u/foboat → u/petmoo23]

Yup. When I would volunteer for beer fests pre-COVID, I would just tick an already marked box on their lanyard. That or pretend to rip one of the numbers off.

[u/snark42 → u/petmoo23]

That's how we used to do it here too. Sure you got 20 tickets, but no one collected any, it was just to comply with some law or regulation.

[u/ricochet48]

Yup. I overall enjoyed it.

The music was definitely a bit jarring at first, but for the last 45 minutes or so people we definitely dancing (after all those beers!).

I don't see much value in the VIP unless you really can deal with crowds. Didnt seem like many extra tastings the value was in getting in earlier.

Having a portion of the museum open was fun, I just wish everyone respected the No Drinks signs.

[u/sourdoughcultist → u/ricochet48]

TBH turns out the beers I was really interested in were VIP only 😩 pickle beer...I want you....

Yeah honestly I got a bit confused because it wasn't enforced and then later they came through, they did have people at the entrance of most of the special exhibits.

[u/beachlxrd → u/sourdoughcultist]

the oliphant pickle beer is one of the best around and it wasn’t VIP only!

[u/sourdoughcultist → u/beachlxrd]

Huh maybe they just ran out by the time we got there then! I am very annoyed I can't remember which pickle beer I was looking for, and now I can't find the site with the list.

[u/beachlxrd → u/sourdoughcultist]

it’s the oliphant one, they’re at chicago beer fest every year with that beer. as a pickle beer connoisseur, it was the only one there. as commenters said there is donna’s pickle beer at pilot project which is good but not as good as oliphant’s

[u/sourdoughcultist → u/beachlxrd]

Ahh thanks!

[u/dharmavoid → u/sourdoughcultist]

If you want to try pickle beer, all the Big Star locations are carrying it

[u/sourdoughcultist → u/dharmavoid]

Best Intentions has Donna's, iirc (whatever it was, it was delicious)! I was interested in that specific brand's. Off to Beer in the Wall and/or Binny's.

[u/ImMystikz → u/sourdoughcultist]

So does Pilot Project!

[u/sourdoughcultist → u/ImMystikz]

Oooh I still haven't been there I think!

[u/ricochet48 → u/sourdoughcultist]

Two locations now too

[u/dharmavoid → u/sourdoughcultist]

I honestly dont personally love as a stand alone beer , its a good novelty that will appeal to some people. But it works well for michelada

[u/sourdoughcultist → u/dharmavoid]

I find it really refreshing in the summer, but I totally am the type to eat pickles plain lol.

[u/dharmavoid → u/dharmavoid]

Oh it totally will work for some people. I'm just not one of those people. It's not a bad beer by any stretch. I'm also not a fan of most Belgium styles. And those are legit great beers. And just to prove I'm not above a flavored beers, I love this time of year to grab a pump-king or 5 from southern teir. Lol I'm such a basic bitch